When I first moved to Wyoming in 2015, the first week I arrived marked a massive milestone for the local community — the beginning of a countywide unified fire district.
Up to that point, the county had a dozen or so little departments, and each was its own independent fiefdom. As is often the case in such a scenario, there was a regular ebb and flow of dysfunction, territorialism and on occasion, outright hostile competition between the various departments.
Wyoming is filled with a fiercely independent population, so as I later found out, the notion of a unified fire district was a daunting prospect for many.
When you’re dealing with local fire departments, your dealing with mini kingdoms, and none of the chieftain kings want to give up their crowns — nor the perceived power that goes with it.
But the county knew it needed to happen for a host of reasons — shared resources, more efficient response times, and perhaps most important, savings for taxpayers.
So how did they do it? They brought in an outsider to serve as the new chief and make the countywide district a reality.
When he first arrived on scene, he gathered all the department chiefs — and assistant chiefs, and captains and and and, on down the ranks — and told them the plan. Then he set the tone.
“We’re going to do this. If you don’t like it, go find a different job.”
Well wouldn’t you know, suddenly everybody got on board, some more willing than others.
When you combine that many departments, “economy of scale” becomes a central factor. No longer is each department clamoring for a piece of equipment here, or an apparatus there. No longer is each department begging for a pay boost here or a better tax rate there.
Instead, they’re all under one banner and thus able to share resources, minimize response overlaps and operate more efficiently.
Nowadays, Sublette County Unified Fire is doing exactly as promised, and most are hard-pressed to remember what life was like before it was formed.
This time last year, Morgan County was looking to do the same. Reports and rumors quickly surfaced that a countywide fire territory was in the works and discussions were happening with various departments.
By summer, those reports stopped surfacing, and by all accounts, the efforts had withered on the vine.
And now we have four entities looking to make two small fire territories of their own. Fire territories are considered a consolidation, as they involve combining two or more taxing units that share boundaries, as laid out in Indiana Code.
Ashland and Adams townships have already had one of three public meetings on their effort (the second is at 6 p.m. tonight), and Mooresville and Brown Township have had another (the next is at 6 p.m. on Feb. 20). (And rumors has it, Paragon is eyeing a similar deal.)
But neither of these proposals do anything to achieve the efficiencies a fire territory should find. In fact, they do the opposite.
Instead of saving taxpayers money, they’ll be raising taxes — substantially. Instead of finding efficiencies in equipment and response, little to nothing will change, since they’re such a long way off from that whole “economy of scale” thing.
When it comes to Mooresville and Brown Township, what it will do is give these fire departments a massive boost to their budgets — about $3 million each, based on that pesky property tax increase — which will be used for more equipment and higher salaries.
At the first of the three public hearings, Brown Township Trustee Mark Harris said the quiet part out loud, acknowledging that the move would make “really no difference, other than the name change.”
For its part, A&A would only propose raising its rates for the townships’ taxpayers by more than 9 percent.
Morgantown and Jackson Township, meanwhile, already pulled off their fire territory last year — before we qualified for public notices and caught wind it was happening.
That said, if you live in Jackson Township, you’re going to be in for a rude awakening this year, as your property tax bill will likely be increasing by about 20 percent.
But if I lived in Mooresville or Brown Township, or Ashland or Adams townships, I’d be sharpening the tines of my pitchfork and soaking my torch in kerosene.
These moves seemingly amount to little more than cash grabs at the expense of the taxpayers.
One of the dirty little secrets in fire departments, for example, is the “run count,” which is the tally of all service runs made by the department. The higher the count, the greater perception of an “active” department. And the better the department feels about justifying the high-priced appropriation du jour they’re requesting in their budgets.
But the reality is, many of these runs are wholly unnecessary. A call for a cat in a tree should not require three different departments to respond. But of course, each is chasing that run count, so every flip of the lights and sirens matters.
A countywide fire territory would improve such inefficiencies. It would allow shared resources, streamline call responses and get rid of a few top salaries along the way.
That, I could get behind, since it might actually result in savings and improved services. But this piecemeal approach certainly doesn’t improve much for anybody but the departments themselves — and at the expense of the taxpayer at every turn.
Then again, I’m sure a bigger budget can buy a little more polish for those crowns.
Editor Stephen Crane is a husband, father of four and Morgan County native. Contact him at 765-201-0010 or at scrane@morgancountycorrespondent.com.
